High Wind in Alaska, March 10, 2005

Name: High Wind in Alaska, March 10, 2005
Start: 2005-03-10T05:00
End: 2005-03-10T07:00
Location: Alaska

March 10, 2005 · NWS AJK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

High easterly winds along the Northern Gulf Coast from Cape Suckling to Icy Bay. The winds developed out ahead of the front associated with a 955 MB Low in the western Gulf of Alaska.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AJK wrote it up.

High easterly winds along the Northern Gulf Coast from Cape Suckling to Icy Bay. The winds developed out ahead of the front associated with a 955 MB Low in the western Gulf of Alaska. No damage nor injuries were reported in this largely uninhabited stretch of coastline.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 9, 6:30 AM AST, 22 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 6:30 AM AST, 22 hours 30 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
630 AM AST WED MAR 9 2005

.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...A RELATIVELY WEAK 993 MB OPEN WAVE LOW WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH THE CENTRAL GULF TODAY. GFS HAS A BETTER HANDLE
ON THE STRENGTH THAN THE ETA. THIS SYSTEM IS DWARFED BY THE
MONSTER STORM TO FOLLOW.

A 964 MB LOW NEAR 50N 148W BY MID AFTERNOON TODAY...WILL
INTENSIFY TO 960 MB AS IT MOVES TO 55N BY LATE TONIGHT AND THEN
WEAKEN TO 970 MB BY THE TIME IT MOVES INLAND NEAR SEWARD THU
AFTERNOON. THIS STORM WILL SPREAD HURRICANE AND STORM FORCE WINDS
THROUGH THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN GULF TONIGHT AND THU. 30 TO 40
FOOT SEAS ARE FORECAST. MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM WILL BE TIMING FOR
WIND WARNINGS AND MARINE WARNINGS. 06Z GFS IS CLOSE TO 00Z
SOLUTION WHICH IS IN THE GRIDS.

.LONG RANGE...STILL LOOKS LIKE A TRANSITION TO A QUIETER WEATHER
PATTERN IS LIKELY FOR THE WEEKEND AND MON...WITH SOME POTENTIAL
FOR MORE PRECIP AROUND MIDWEEK. UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE
ERN GULF BY SAT...WITH A RETROGRESSION TO THE WRN PART OF THE
STATE POSSIBLE BY MIDWEEK. WILL HAVE LEFTOVER EFFECTS FROM A
POTENT STORM ON THU NIGHT...THEN ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE
IN FOR LATER FRI AND FRI NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE
GULF LATE FRI NIGHT AND SAT...WITH SOME MODEL DISPARITY ON HOW
SHARP SFC RIDGE WILL BE. THE HIGH SHOULD WEAKEN THEN AS SOME
SHORTWAVE ENERGY DROPS S INTO THE AREA AROUND TUE OR WED OF NEXT
WEEK.

LOOKING SHOWERY THU NIGHT IN POST FRONTAL UNSTABLE AIRMASS...THEN
A MORE STEADY RAIN WILL MOVE BACK IN FRI AS A WEAK FRONT AND ITS
ASSOCIATED SHORTWAVE MOVE THRU. THE RAIN SHOULD DIMINISH LATER
FRI NIGHT AFTER FRONT GOES BY AND RIDGING BUILDS UP OVER THE ERN
GULF.

A BIG QUESTION MARK FOR THE WEEKEND WILL BE HOW MUCH CLEARING
WILL TAKE PLACE...AND WHETHER ANY PRECIP MAY OCCUR OVER THE FAR
NW AREA DUE TO SYSTEM PASSING BY TO THEIR W. ATTM...MODELS NOT IN
AGREEMENT ON SHARPNESS OF SFC RIDGE AND HOW FAR E PRECIP FROM
THAT SYSTEM WILL GET. WENT WITH CHANCE POPS FOR PAYA ZONE SAT AND
SAT NIGHT...AND KEPT REMAINING AREA AT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS OR LESS
FOR SAT NIGHT. AS FAR AS CLOUDS GO...KEPT MORE CLOUDS UP N THRU
SAT NIGHT...THEN WENT FOR SOME CLEARING SUN OVER ALL BUT THE PAYA
AREA. KEPT THINGS PARTLY CLOUDY OVER THE S AREA LATER SAT THRU
MON. THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS BEST COMPROMISE GIVEN MODEL
DIFFERENCES.

MODELS NOW IN BETTER AGREEMENT THAT A FAIRLY POTENT SHORTWAVE
WILL DROP S INTO THE NE GULF AROUND TUE OR TUE NIGHT TIME FRAME.
FOR SIMPLICITY AND DUE TO SOME DIFFERENCES IN TIMING AND STRENGTH
OF SYSTEM...WENT WITH CHANCE POPS ALL AREAS FOR TUE. THERE MAY BE
SOME PTYPE ISSUES AS WELL...BUT FOR NOW KEPT IT ALL RAIN THRU TUE
DAYTIME PERIOD.

.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...HI WND WATCH AKZ017
         WND ADVSY AKZ022-023-027-028

MARINE...GALES PKZ021-022-036-041-042-043-051-052
         SCA PKZ011>013-031>035

LN/RWT

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cape Fairweather to Cape Suckling Coastal Area

When: March 10, 5:00 AM AST to 7:00 AM AST
Where: Cape Fairweather to Cape Suckling Coastal Area forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 2005

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5436935.